Amelia glanced over at the table where Kimber, Nate’s sixteen-year-old niece, sat under the watchful eye of Stephen Reyes, having turned down an offer to dance with one of the boys in attendance. “Is she shy?”
“No,” Nate scoffed, “she’s just grounded.”
“For how long?”
Nate shrugged his shoulders. “How long before the end of time?”
Amelia winced for the girl and understood her pain. “Poor kid.”
“Poor kid? My brother had a full head of hair before we moved here.”
“What?”
“Joking.” Nate winked and tightened his grip around her waist. “How long before we can leave here?”
“They haven’t even cut the cake, Nate.” Though she wanted to be the mature one in this scenario, Amelia knew her desire mirrored his. How did a suit make a man so sexy? It didn’t matter what Nate wore: a pair of denims with no shirt and the sweat off his back, or a dark, tailored suit. She inhaled deeply. She’d already missed the county fair, which was always held at the beginning of the summer, but she pictured him in a nice green sweater to match his eyes in the winter months or even an orange shirt for pumpkin patch season. The farmers were probably tending feverishly to their crops now, given that Halloween wasn’t too far away from here. Hell, September was a few days away. And then what? She’d report back to work? Maybe she could stay at least through next month.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said. More than fine, she thought, with a new plan in mind now. She’d give Rory Montgomery a call later on this weekend and let her know.
* * *
For the first time in a long time, Nate realized bringing a date to a wedding was not complicated at all. For once he liked the feeling of being in a secluded relationship. Is that what they were? Secluded? The idea brought a smile to his face.
“I’ll have whatever you’re having,” said an elderly gentleman stepping up to the bar next to Nate.
“Nothing but tonic water for me,” Nate said, raising his glass, and turned. His grin widened at the sight of Enzo Gravel, Kimber and Philly’s grandfather. Earlier this year Betty’s parents had made the heartbreaking decision not to file for custody of their granddaughters. Nate’s brother, Ken, had made the arrangements for Stephen and Nate to be the girls’ guardians after each birth. No one expected Ken and Betty to die, but Nate and Stephen had the courts on their side. Enzo and his wife, Jeanette, admitted they were too old to run after the younger girls. They’d had Betty in their midforties and were pushing the seventies when their first grandchild was born. Now in their eighties they did what most grandparents did and spoiled their kids every chance they had with them, without having the responsibility of disciplining them.
“Hey, man.” Nate extended his hand. “I didn’t see you there.”
“Ah, that must be the young lady you’ve been dancing with the whole evening?” He gave Nate a firm handshake. The kind of shake his father, Esteban, had taught him. “Who is the lucky lady?”
“Amelia Marlow.”
Enzo tapped the white goatee on the chin of his mahogany face. “Where do I know the name?”
“You may remember her. Her parents owned—”
“The Scoop, an ice-cream parlor off Main Street. Yes, I remember Amelia. Inquisitive young lady.”
His choice in words caused Nate to chuckle, especially as he recalled the way she always tried different angles of getting to the truth about Stephen’s meeting with Natalia. Nate had stood firm on his word. If Natalia wanted to share with Amelia that she was ready to leave the business, then it was Natalia’s story to tell. Nate loved Amelia, but not enough to betray his friends and family. Wait—love?
“Amelia did the city a whole lot of good,” Enzo went on. “Although what a shame she didn’t stick around to see what good she did.”
Over many of their conversations, Amelia often chalked her reason for not wanting to return to Southwood up to everyone here hating her. So far, except Brittany for obvious reasons, everyone seemed to be so friendly. She’d never said why she felt they hated her, other than they did. Nate took a swig of his water as Enzo went on.
“Amelia was investigating the issue of how migrant workers were treated in Peachville. Initially, her high-school report ruffled a lot of feathers.”
“Why?”
“This is Georgia, son. The peach tree is our everything. If I’m not mistaken, the initial findings halted the harvesting and put a lot of businesses in the red, including her family’s shop.” Enzo closed his eyes and let out a sigh of nostalgia. “Man, what I wouldn’t do for a scoop of her father’s fresh peach ice cream.”
What Nate wouldn’t do for a bite of her peach. Libido racing, Nate glanced at his watch and wondered how long they needed to stay. Neither of them were a part of the wedding party, so they did not have to stay for photographs. Nate cleared his throat. “So, are the girls going home with you tonight?”
“Philly asked.”
“And Kimber?” asked Nate. With him being gone all week, Nate had worried about Stephen handling his time with the girls and was grateful for Lexi being around. A feminine presence was necessary in the household and while Stephen and Lexi were not married or engaged, it was only a matter of time. Nate typically enjoyed his nights off and away from the household to socialize. Having the grandparents take the girls for the weekend helped Nate avoid the talk with his nieces. Before Amelia, there’d been no desire to introduce the girls to whomever kept him company.
“She wanted to know if she’d still be grounded if she came over,” Enzo said, giving Nate a wink and a nudge in the rib cage to jar him out of his thoughts, “but you guys know Jeanette and I always follow your rules.”
“Sure.” Nate returned the wink. “Which is why I have a tracker on all of her phones. She can try and go out with her friends, but I’ll be watching. I should have weighed Philly this morning.”
“Now you can’t blame the sugar on me today. Philly’s been eyeballing that six-tier cake all afternoon. You should have all week,” said Enzo, “but from my understanding you haven’t been home much.”
Not sure how to answer the question, Nate shook his head. “Well, you see...” He still did not have a proper answer. How did he explain their meeting in Atlanta or what happened when Amelia returned to Southwood?
“Save your excuses,” Enzo said with a chuckle. “I am hard of hearing, not hard of hearing gossip.”
“Gossip?” Nate’s jaws clenched. If Amelia got wind of that, she might hightail it back to the reality TV world.
“Don’t worry.” Enzo waved off any fret. “Pastor Rivers informed me of the work you’re doing for Helen Marlow. Bless your soul, have you met her yet?”
“Briefly.”
“And you’re still living?”
The memory of her prickly demeanor did bring a chuckle to Nate. “Yes, sir.”
“Good for you. Well, looks like my blushing bride is waving me over.”
Enzo nodded and shook Nate’s hand before excusing himself to rejoin his wife at a table filled with other pillars of the community. Nate’s green eyes scanned the gazebo for any sight of Amelia and found her in the arms of Parker Ward—again. He took a step toward the laid-out dance floor and over the greenery of the park.
“Dance with me.”
The latest obstacle to get in Nate’s way was the five-foot-five bridesmaid dressed in purple and accented with jealousy green. “Hello, Brit. I’m in a bit of a hurry.”
“Dance with me,” Brittany repeated like one of Philly’s broken dolls. She glanced over her shoulder. “She seems pretty busy catching up with her first love.”
She’d voiced what he’d already suspected. Nate shrugged his shoulders. “So?”
Brittany reached for Nate’s hand and dragged him to the edge of the
dance floor. At least he’d be a few steps closer to Amelia.
“I’m disappointed in you, Nate.” Brittany stated the obvious.
“Why?” Nate tried not to sigh. Other wedding guests began to crowd the floor, causing Brittany to get closer. In turn, Parker was probably trying the same move.
“You’ve been ignoring me.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong—” Nate cleared his throat “—but we never made each other any promises.”
Brittany’s fingers, with their purple acrylic nails, walked their way up the buttons of his shirt. “We’ve always had an unspoken bond between us.”
“Brittany, please,” he begged before she humiliated herself. Philly craned her neck to watch them dance. She was always hinting around for Nate to invite her favorite teacher home for dinner. “Stop.”
“You forgot already?”
“Forgot what?” Nate jerked his head away from her approaching face.
“The safe word.”
The one time Brittany had gone into the padlocked room at her apartment, she’d mentioned something about a safe word. How the hell did she expect him to remember? Jaws twitching with irritation, Nate inhaled deeply and glanced around the dance floor and made eye contact with Amelia. Instead of the pissed-off glare he expected, she winked with confidence, almost as if she found amusement in his predicament.
“Did you forget the safe word, Nate?”
Nate ducked his head out of her grasp before she placed her dominatrix fingers on his chin to force his attention. “Brittany, I told you I don’t do—”
“Complicated.” Brittany motioned with her hands in front of his face with air quotes. “Yes, yes, I understand you have a family to take care of and an image you want to uphold for your nieces, which is why I am the logical choice. No one has suspected our relationship so far with all the parent-teacher meetings.”
Making a turn on the floor, Nate shook his head. “You’ve made yourself pretty damn clear to every single woman in town.”
“And not so single,” Brittany mocked.
“Things are more complicated,” he said honestly.
“You’ve said something along those lines before.”
“And every time I meant it.” He kept his lips straight to show seriousness. Brittany made the small things uncomfortable. There hadn’t been a school function where she didn’t cling to his arm, silently laying claim to him amongst all the other single mothers.
“You also said you did not believe in bringing dates to weddings.” Brittany nodded her chin in Amelia’s direction. “Or did something change?”
“You mean someone?” Nate asked. His harsh stare down at Brittany softened. She didn’t deserve to be set on the curb but he’d never made her any promises. In fact, Nate made himself perfectly clear: he was not looking for anything serious from her.
A murmur of conversation spread through the dance floor as the song began to wind down. Nate’s heart rate sped up. He turned at the right moment—to witness Amelia departing Parker’s arms. She made her way toward him. Automatically Nate’s arms dropped from Brittany’s waist.
“Hi, guys.”
At the sound of Amelia’s cheery voice, the corners of Brittany’s eyes narrowed. Her crow’s-feet deepened and anger flashed in her eyes when she turned to him. “You say you don’t do complicated, but sure seems as though you’ll settle for easy.”
Before either of them got a word out of their mouths, Brittany stormed off toward the table where her grandfather, Pastor Rivers, sat nursing a bottle of water. In true dramatic flair, Amelia clutched her heart. “Did I say something wrong?” she gasped playfully.
Nate shook his hand and captured hers. “You’re so wrong.”
“Wrong for what?”
The next song started, an Alabama Shakes bluesy tune filtering through the air. “For stealing the show.”
“I’m not doing anything but enjoying this reception.”
“The bride is supposed to be the center of attention,” said Nate, “and here you’ve got all eyes on you right now.”
Amelia batted her lashes, and though he knew she was playing up her flippant side, he’d learned she did this a lot when she became uncomfortable. “Whatever. More like everyone is staring at you.” Her hands pressed against the lapels of his jacket.
“How much longer do you want to stay here?”
“We can leave now.”
They stayed long enough to watch the bride and groom cut the cake and smear a piece across one another’s faces. Grateful that Enzo and Jeanette had offered to take the girls tonight, Nate bid his nieces good-night. Philly whined a bit but the wheels in Kimber’s mind had begun turning. Pastor Rivers tipped his head in their direction, trying to get either his or Amelia’s attention, but with what Nate had in mind to do with Amelia, the last person he wanted to talk to was a man of the cloth.
Lexi was an obstacle in Nate and Amelia’s attempted departure. She wanted to be sure she had Amelia’s notes written down on what to film and what angle to take the footage at for Sam and Emily. Outside, another issue slowed them down. All the cars driving aimlessly around trying to find a spot made getting to his SUV seem more like a game of Frogger. Keenan, Stephen’s part-time driver, offered to take them wherever, but again, Nate wasn’t sure he was going to make it all the way back to Amelia’s without ripping off her clothes. He surely did not need an employee of Stephen’s to watch.
* * *
Once again Nate drove down County Road Seventeen like a madman, one hand on the wheel while the other pulled her body close to him for a kiss. Amelia thought she might actually burst into flames if she did not touch every inch of Nate’s body. For a moment he lost control of the wheel when she yanked open the buttons of his shirt and exposed the tribal tattoo. His tires skidded off the road with each devilish kiss Amelia trailed across his neck, down his chest and against his hard abs. The steering wheel needed to be adjusted to accommodate what she planned on doing to Nate. Her fingers fought feverishly at the button of his slacks until she released him and took him in her mouth.
“Amelia,” Nate breathed nervously.
Loving the way his body tensed up, Amelia smiled and slid her mouth down the length of his shaft. His breath became shallow and she took him in deeper. Three of her fingers barely managed to wrap around the base and moved up and down with a slight release of the pressure of her mouth. She loved hearing him call her name over and over.
With the use of his right hand, Nate slid his fingers down the hem of her dress and began to lift the material up. She was so glad she was wearing a pair of thigh-highs. His thumb traced the lace on her thigh and his stomach moved with his chuckle.
“Woman, you are the devil.”
To show him how much of a devil she could be, Amelia swirled the tip of her tongue around the slick head of his penis and jerked her hand upward, milking out the droplets of precum. “Am I now?”
The answer to her question was a thrust of his long finger between the flesh at the apex of her legs. She’d been wet all afternoon and purred once she finally received his touch. They moved rhythmically in unison to the beat of the song on the radio. By the time the car crunched over the gravel driveway, Amelia was saturated with desire.
Nate threw his SUV in Park and snatched out the keys. He trotted in front of the hood to the passenger’s side and opened the door. Amelia greeted him with one leg propped up on the cushioned seat, exposing herself for him. She adored the way he gulped and glanced around. Dusk began to settle on the dark treetops. Everyone who was anyone was at the wedding. No one could see them for miles.
The work she’d done on him was still evident. Amelia took her other leg and pressed it against his sculpted abs. Nate shrugged out of his jacket. The shirt she tore open had no way to stay closed and that suited her just fine. His pants hung low off hi
s hips.
“I don’t think I can wait until we get inside, Nate.” Amelia bit the bottom right corner of her lip and blinked innocently.
“I don’t like to make a woman have to wait.”
Nate reconnected his body with hers first with a kiss. His hands clasped around the base of her neck and his fingers sunk into her curls. Their mouths danced to the orchestra of the cicadas. Nate skillfully rolled a condom on right before Amelia moved her lower half closer to the edge of the seat and slipped herself onto him with ease.
They both breathed a sigh of satisfaction.
“Is this what you’ve been waiting for?” Nate asked, moving inside her. He pulled his mouth from hers. The bold gaze of his deep green eyes shook her soul.
“Yes,” Amelia managed to say. Her walls began to throb and suction with each thrust. She wanted to play it cool but the pleasure of his mouth on her breasts overtook her. She leaned back and allowed him to throw her four-inch lavender heels onto the green lawn and hook her legs over his shoulders and pound away. And at the right moment, the precise time he sent her over the edge, Nate’s body tensed and his cock thumped against her womb. Amelia closed her eyes and rode the pleasure wave before she felt the cabin of the SUV begin to spin. Not able to look at him just yet, Amelia turned her head to the right and covered her face with her left arm. A small juice box caught her eye. Dear Lord Jesus, she realized this was the same vehicle he drove his nieces around in.
“We’ve violated your car,” Amelia said with a giggle. Since when did she giggle?
“You say violate,” Nate said breathily, “I say christened. And damn,” he added. “I also say damn.”
“You’re crazy.”
“And starving,” he said. “Woman, you’ve worked an appetite out of me.”
Nate helped her out of the front seat, adjusting the hem of her dress before tucking himself away and zipping up his pants. Amelia sighed in disappointment.
“Well, perhaps if you didn’t spend the entire reception dancing with Brittany Foley.” She began to laugh, then gasped with another fit of giggles when Nate tossed her over his broad shoulders with one arm and carried her toward the house. Instead of taking the steps to the front porch, he took her up the new ramp, hidden by Grandmamma’s flowers. Before they made it to the porch, Nate let her down, turned her so she faced the wall and lifted the hem of her dress—then they christened the new ramp.
His Southern Sweetheart Page 14